Unum and Colonial Life Tap Wonolo to Build On-Demand Workforce

Wonolo, an on-demand staffing platform backed by and co-created with the Coca-Cola Founders program, is now helping two insurance industry leaders fill their immediate labor needs.

Unum and Colonial Life are now using the Wonolo platform to access on-demand talent through qualified, pre-vetted, local benefits counselors.

Colonial Life and Unum depend on benefits counselors who hold face-to-face sessions with potential clients to help them understand their needs and benefits options. Millions of these transactions take place each year, so the businesses require clear visibility into counselor supply to identify and deploy the right talent quickly. The demand is even greater in the fall, when most employers hold annual benefits enrollment periods.

Recognizing the need to fill jobs faster, Colonial Life and Unum implemented Wonolo in 2015 in select test markets, before rolling out Wonolo nationally in 2016. Through Wonolo, the businesses have been able to optimize access to qualified counselors across the country for quick deployment. As a result, the businesses cut the average time to schedule benefits enrollers from several days to minutes or hours by sending out job opportunities through the Wonolo app and getting immediate responses from qualified local professionals.

Colonial Life signed up 180 benefits counselors for South Florida during the pilot phase. The territory office increased year-over-year sales by 25 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015. Since then, both Unum and Colonial Life have signed up more than 1,000 counselors and plan to boost that number significantly before the end of the year.

“Wonolo has provided us with a new way to manage and develop our workforce and helped us embrace change to better serve our customers,” said Richard Shaffer, vice president of enrollment for Unum and Colonial Life.

Wonolo (which stands for Work. Now. Locally.) helps companies address their unpredictable labor needs through an on-demand staffing platform. Businesses use the Wonolo platform to manage teams – from internal staffers to Wonolo’s community of vetted on-demand workers – and schedule work all in one place. San Francisco-based Wonolo serves markets across the United States and has partnered with hundreds of leading companies, from startups to FORTUNE 500s.

“As more companies recognize the advantage in leveraging Wonolo to get more value out of their own workforce, Unum and Colonial Life show they’re ahead of the curve,” said A.J. Brustein, co-founder and COO of Wonolo. “We look forward to helping these businesses continue to fill their immediate and long-term needs, connecting with the talent they need to serve their clients and achieve their growth objectives.”

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is the world's largest beverage company, refreshing consumers with more than 500 sparkling and still brands and more than 3,800 beverage choices. Led by Coca-Cola, one of the world's most valuable and recognizable brands, our company’s portfolio features 20 billion-dollar brands, 18 of which are available in reduced-, low- or no-calorie options. Our billion-dollar brands include Diet Coke, Coca-Cola Zero, Fanta, Sprite, Dasani, vitaminwater, Powerade, Minute Maid, Simply, Del Valle, Georgia and Gold Peak. Through the world's largest beverage distribution system, we are the No. 1 provider of both sparkling and still beverages. More than 1.9 billion servings of our beverages are enjoyed by consumers in more than 200 countries each day. With an enduring commitment to building sustainable communities, our company is focused on initiatives that reduce our environmental footprint, create a safe, inclusive work environment for our associates, and enhance the economic development of the communities where we operate. Together with our bottling partners, we rank among the world's top 10 private employers with more than 700,000 system associates.